What's the go with baby sleeping bags?

[Teeki]

Yesterday DD was given a beautiful baby sleeping bag as a gift. It's 000 so I want to use it before she grows out of it! But I'm unsure how the whole baby sleeping bag thingo works.

It has sleeves, so should keep her warm. It doesn't have a TOG anywhere on it though (not that I even know what that stands for or means!). It's a really soft mink material. So what I'm wondering is, do I keep her dressed as normal, and put her in this as extra? And then not use any blankets? What do we do with all that extra material at the bottom - because if her feet are at the bottom of the cot there's nowhere to put it, do I fold it under or over or something?

Cheers

[glenny_c]

My DD went into sleeping bags at about 8 weeks, before then she wanted to be wrapped. At the moment, she's in a 2.5 TOG and is also wearing pajamas inside it. I'm not sure about the bottom though, I guess just fold it over, my DD sleeps in the middle of the cot. She doesn't have any blankets but I do have a heater set on low in her room overnight. I love the sleeping bags- so easy as DD moves around a lot during the night so it means I don't have to worry about her pulling blankets etc over her head.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I used to dress my girls in a thin bodysuit (think bonds easysuit material) the sleeping bag then pop a thin blanket over them.
I think each person is different though, some people don't use blankets others put them in only the sleeping bag and then use normal sheets & blankets.
My girls were hot sleepers so often i would come back and blankets were gone so it was great knowing they were still covered and warm.

I never really worried about the bit of material, i just put the girls in bed and it laid where it laid

[Arcadia]

If you use a sleeping bag you shouldn't need blankets so bub lies in the middle of the cot. It's only important to put bub at bottom of cot if you have blankets because you don't want them to wriggle under them.

I always put the sleeping bag over a onesie. Sometimes I would then wrap bub in a thin muslin wrap if they still liked being wrapped (which both mine did till 8 weeks).

[Beach Mama]

I used sleeveless ones that are cotton and were TOG 2.5 for winter, and underneath they would have a singlet and full jumpsuit (we are in Melbourne though) but I wouldnt' recommend a minky one with sleeves at night because they are at risk of overheating. They are made from polyester and can be a bit sweaty. I would use ones like that one that you describe for going out and about in the pram when it was really cold out. Having said that my gf used one for her DD through winter with a hood but I don't think it is that safe. Good luck with it and we loved ours from about 8 weeks once they stopped being wrapped and DD used one up until she was 16 mths old!

[misty]

We use the sleeping bags, over top of their regular PJ's. We also find we have to use one or two more light blankets on top of the sleepingbag (Canberra gets cold ), but the sleeping bag is great because if they wiggle out of all the other blankets they still have at least one layer on - so although they may get a little cold, they shouldn't freeze.

[Teeki]

If you use a sleeping bag you shouldn't need blankets so bub lies in the middle of the cot. It's only important to put bub at bottom of cot if you have blankets because you don't want them to wriggle under them.

Oh of course lol

She doesn't seem to like bein wrapped, she likes her arms up above her head lol. That's why I like that this one has sleeves, her arms won't get cold being out of the blankets. I'm not too stressed about her overheating, we have a temperature control heater in our room, and the sleeping bag would be lighter than the blankets she has now. Certainly wouldn't use one with a hood though - we've had it drilled into us she needs her head uncovered at night to prevent overheating.

But yeah, it may be good for the pram - the temp struggles to get into double digits here in the valley!

Thanks heaps everyone

[misty]

Also thought I would add:
I refuse to use any of the sleeping bags that has a high fire danger rating - there are planty on the market which are low fire danger, although most of these don't seem to come with a TOG rating.

[Teeki]

Also thought I would add:
I refuse to use any of the sleeping bags that has a high fire danger rating - there are planty on the market which are low fire danger, although most of these don't seem to come with a TOG rating.

Yeah, she doesn't wear/use anything with a high fire danger. This one has the low fire danger tag on it. What exactly is the TOG rating?

[misty]

The TOG rating is simply a measurement that some of the manufacturers put on their sleeping bags to indicate to the parents exactly how warm it is (so the parent knows if it will need extra blankets on top). It is like buying an adult sleeping bag which is rated to 5degrees, or -10degrees etc.

[raffy]

DS has refused to be wrapped or be under a blanket from day dot so the sleeping bag was amazing, couldn't recommend them highly enough, I dress DS in his usual pjs and I have a couple of sleeping bags depending on the weather one is very thick and warm and the other is quite thin, DS also has a heater on in his room a few hours before bedtime to heat it up, we've never had any issues with him waking up being to hot or to cold and there is no way he can kick the sleeping bag off like he would do with blankets

[Taurean]

We've used sleeping bags since DD was 10 weeks old. We have used a mix of Grobags, Dream Bags and Living Textile sleeping bags (depending on which ones I could get on sale, lol). DD has 2 of each TOG rating - 0.5, 1.0 and 2.5 in her size. She's currently in the 18-36 months bags which seemed so long when she first went in them (as with all her bags) but they need the growing room. You just leave the excess bag laying flat and lay your baby in the middle of the cot.

I personally only use the bags without sleeves and those with a TOG rating. I feel a lot safer knowing exactly what temp DD room should be and what she should be wearing. The temp and clothing guide which comes with TOG rated sleeping bags are excellent and take away most of the guess work.

Currently we live in an old house with very little insulation so DD's room gets really cold. We have a reverse cycle aircon in her room so that runs all night to keep her room at around 18 degrees in winter. She wears a 2.5 TOG bag with either a Wondersuit and a spencer (so her arms have a double layer of clothing) or she wears a PJ set with a long sleeved onesie underneath. Both options work well.

I wouldn't feel comfortable using the bag you're describing overnight but only cause I'm a worry wart A lot of the soft, fleecy type bags can actually be quite sweaty and don't breathe well so despite having the baby's room at a good temp, they can overheat. I'd only use that type of bag if we were out and about, in the pram - where I could keep an eye on her temp. But that's just me

With regards to blankets and bags, most sleeping bags state that you should not use sheets or blankets in addition to a bag. They shouldn't be necessary if your child is dressed per the recommendations and their room is at a good temperature range. However, if you don't have heating in their room, I can see how it would be needed but I personally would use a heater before I'd consider extra bedding.

HTH!

[nickle730]

Kaytee, is the sleeping bag mink or polar fleece?? I have never seen a mink bag (which is not to say they don't make them!) but I would think that a bag made out of what I'm picturing would not be breathable and would be high fire danger? I'm picturing mink like a mink blanket with long soft hairs... I have seen plenty of polar fleece bags with sleeves, which is why I wonder if that's what you have?

I used bags with all three of mine, even DD2 wears one and she is co-sleeping. I like to keep the doona away from her face and she often kicks it off entirely. If it was too long I tucked it under the cot mattress at the end so that the kidlets couldn't scrunch themselves down in the bag and cover their faces.

We took a holiday to beautiful Tassie in the middle of winter (in a caravan... don't ask!) when DD1 was 2.5 and DS was a tiny bubba and I used the long sleeve polar fleece bags for them both. They were VERY warm and the kids often woke up sweaty so don't overheat the room if this is what you have!

[Teeki]

Thanks heaps for all of your replies girls I started to get a bit worried about it, if it's a good thing for her to be in at all. So I fished out the cardboard tags I'd taken off before washing it (recycling only bin thankfully, so wasn't yucky!) and there are actually three tags, and one does have a TOG rating! Hooray! So it's 1.5, and says to have the room at 17-20 degrees - that's good for us as our heater is set on 18 - goes between 18 & 19.

It's not actually mink either - just felt like it to me lol. It's a Snug Time Cosi Bag, the fleece unlined kind.

Feeling much better about it all now, thanks!

[misty]

snug time are one of the brands we buy, they are quite good, breathable and generally low fire danger. (we have ALOT of different sleeping bags ).

[Taurean]

Snug Time are great bags hon You may find 1.5 TOG a bit cool for winter though so see how you go. The clothing guide with Grobags (google it - Grobags what to wear) is the best and most 'accurate' IMO however their guides are for sleeveless bags. Still good as a reference point.

We use a 2.5 now with DDs room around 18. A bag with sleeves would only need pjs and a singlet I'd say. As our bags are sleeveless, we use spencers or long sleeved onesies under pjs

[Teeki]

Thanks for the grobag site Taurean We tried her in it last night, wearing a singlet and long bodysuit/onesie. We also turned up the temp on the heater a bit. She seemed to like it, and I loved it - she kicks around so much, even if she's wrapped she can wriggle enough to shift the blankets around. So it was great that nothing was going to cover her face. She did still get a little cool though, so I did wind up putting a thin blanket over her. So now I reckon I'll get her a proper winter one, 2.5 TOG. She's got loads of growing room in this one, so hopefully it'll still fit when the weather warms up a little.

Thanks heaps for everyone's advice